Miami-Dade school board members consider metal detectors for students

MIAMI – After the Broward County School Board approved and implemented metal detectors in some schools, the Miami-Dade County School Board will consider if it’s a security policy the district needs.

Jaime Alberti, the Broward County Public School’s chief safety and security officer, said the metal detectors are part of a process that requires a secondary search of a student’s suspicious backpack.

Mary Blanco, the school board member representing Miami-Dade’s District 7, said they will have a workshop at the end of July and will have to consider if the measure is affordable.

Karla Hernandez-Mats, the United Teachers of Dade president, said teachers would rather see those funds used to raise pay.

“As an A-rated district, our focus should be on providing excellent education that focuses on quality social-emotional learning rather than over-policing students,” Hernandez-Mats said in a statement.

The cost of each metal detector set is about $16,000. BCPS paid about $1.8 million just for the metal detectors and the installation at 31 public schools.


About the Author
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Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

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